I'd Rather Knit

These past months have yielded dozens of knitted pieces; most of which I designed on the fly.  I love to play with strings and sticks and see just what comes of it.  This strange approach of mine landed me my first teaching workshop -- felting.

My knitting guild met last night and I was the entertainment.  :)  The evening was a blast, about 30 women stabbing away at bits of coloured bat, making their first needle-felted balls.  Many people got the hang of it very quickly and there were striped, flowered and solid coloured woolen balls all over the tables. One woman brought a felted pin cushion she had made and decorated it with a flower and leaves, people talked of making jewelry, and gifts and there was laughter all around.

Nothing is as grounding and wonderful as time spent with fellow knitters.

My felting workshop was great fun for everyone and I'm teaching two more this month.  This is heaven!  I will be posting pics of my felting pieces with (at least rough) patterns and instructions as soon as I can.

Happy knitting...El

Inspiration -- What is it?

Depth Perception, El/2010

Inspiration -- we all have it.  But do we recognize it?  Can we use it to enrich our lives?

Our brain is wired to act associatively.  As brilliantly demonstrated in the Python's Word Association Football skit, we think/see/say/hear a thing then a series of rapid mental associations occur.  I believe this is the very root of our creative ability and each of us has this in pretty much equal measure.  What makes the difference is our ability to recognize its value.

If you find a little pile of change on the sidewalk, you recognize its value instantly. But not many of us naturally recognize value in the font of freebies generated by our own minds.  Armed with a spirit of adventure, a sense of humour  and a playful attitude you will be able to recognize inspirational opportunity when it talks to you.  With a little practice you'll soon be tapping the endless river of possibilities constantly generated by your little grey cells.  All you need then is to learn discrimination which comes easily with practice.  Learn to recognize and harvest the best of your inspirational berries if you will.  Get to know what thrills and fascinates you.

The images in this entry are samples of inspiring visions, design and/or palette possibilities, textural interest, etc. that I have recently completed.  As you can see from this collection, I appreciate unusual juxtapositions of objects, shapes and textures and value uniqueness and strong composition.  Colour stimulates me also.  Anything that lifts my spirit and fills me with joy is a sure-fire candidate for development into a painting, photo or knitted object.

Sidewalk Series III

The title image is a digital painting I did to play with depth perception and that is it's title.  Of the three images here, the first began as a digital photo of a section of sidewalk that intrigued me.  I added the blue strip and white circle electronically.  The second is my pool.  The last image began as a photo of a local beach and I digitally created the frame.

All three have inspired me to translate their characteristics into real objects so I'll choose one to develop into a project for this blog.  Any guesses as to which one?  Knit blithley on!...El

Poolside Rhythm, El 2010

Sandpipers, El 2009

Knitter Bits

I've been exploring the i-cord -- it fascinates me. Two dpn's, a bit of yarn and a tube is born.  My brain explodes with possibilities as I play with various yarns so you'll see more pieces as time goes on.

The pictured necklace is knitted from i-cords using less than 1/2 skein of Plymouth's Koigu, Col.#46. I made five cords in graduated lengths and joined them at the ends with a band of stockinette that curls naturally at its edges, echoing the the i-cord chains.  This necklace evolved quickly as I knitted.   By the time the first cord was finished the design was settled in my mind and the rest was a treat as I watched the cords growing and the magic of Koigu Colour taking over.

You can see how the pieces were joined in these images.  One of the best features of this project was how quickly it came together; very satisfying.  It makes a good travelling project as well so I'm thinking a few friends will be receiving necklaces as gifts over the next few months.

It's way past bedtime, so must leave this entry here.
Best...El

Dragon Sweater Brings Out the Fierce in a Kid (and the angry hisses)

"Nana, if you want to capture dragons about this long (stretches arms out to the side), you can do it.  But you have to go out at 6 o'clock.  Remember Nana, 6 o'clock.  You can capture them then but YOU MUST NOT BLINK.  If you blink they will attack.

But, if you have to blink, you can tell them your eyes are dry and you need to blink.  Then they won't attack."

This instructional conversation with my grandson is a sample of his current romance with all things reptile, especially flying ones.  So when I saw Bernat's Dinosaur Sweater, it became a Dragon Sweater for my grandson.  Knitted from stash Lion Brand Wool Ease, it was fun to do and easy to care for at the same time.  My grandson went absolutely bonkers over it which was also a huge plus.

The pattern includes slippers and a dinosaur toy neither of which held much interest.  Rather, a hat was requested so I made one up for him using Bernat's pattern for the 'spikes' so the hat and sweater go well together.  BIG HIT.

I used metallic buttons from my stash and varied them to represent dragon treasure, so there are brass, copper and silver buttons on the sweater.  All in all an excellent outcome, though I'd knit a size larger (8) next time.

Next post:  the Dragon Hat
...El

I have knitted for miles and miles and miles...

I learned to knit at my mother's knee.
  
There I held my arms out in front of me, a skein of yarn stretched between them and learned the rocking motion that facilitates the winding of each ball of yarn.


The rhythm of the whirling yarn between us was dance-like, trance-like and  while my skein grew smaller and Mum's ball of yarn grew larger I stood captured, enraptured and fascinated.  This was my first experience with shared work and I couldn't get enough.

Learning to wind the ball came next, then untangling errant yarn and picking out the requested needle sizes.  Then the part I really wanted to learn-- holding the needles and making cloth!
  
I practiced knitting garter stitch rows on stitches cast on by my mother until the work was consistently even.  Then the purl stitch was added and the vocabulary of stitches became my next passion.  


When girls in my family reached eight years old they were invited to baby showers and their contribution was little woolen "soakers" that they had knitted themselves.  I can't tell you how proud I was the first time I did this.  It was a welcoming of me into the community of women as a real contributer.

At 10 or 12 we knitted beautiful  little lace baby sweaters, bonnets and bootee sets.  By that age I was an accomplished knitter and made sweaters for family and friends.  Coming full circle, I'm  knitting baby clothes for my grandchildren now -- an indescribable joy!

Over the years I learned from my mother, aunts and grandmothers.  They talked about yarns -- the good, the bad and the merely adequate. I learned about gauging and swatching and taking good notes, tension, caring for knits and all the rest.  With each new project my love for the craft deepened.

The pink sweater shown on my little granddaughter is knitted with Lion Brand's Cotton Ease, a worsted weight yarn that holds up well and was a quick and very satisfying project.  You'll find the details here on my Ravelry page...El